Being accepted as a citizen of Poland by virtue of a decision of a province governor

A province governor (“wojewoda” in Polish) may accept a foreigner as a citizen of Poland upon request of the said foreigner, and in the case of a minor – upon request of his or her statutory representatives.  Being accepted as a citizen of Poland takes the form of an administrative decision and is conditional upon the foreigner’s meeting the formal requirements stipulated in chapter 4 of the act on Polish citizenship.

Formal requirements:

1.A foreigner may be accepted as a Polish citizen, provided that he or she has resided continuously on the territory of Poland  for at least:

• 3 years by virtue of a permanent residence permit, a long-term EU-resident permit or the right to permanent residence, and provided that he or she has a steady and regular source of income in Poland, as well as a legal title to the flat occupied;
• 10 years, if all of the following conditions are met:
  • he or she holds a permanent residence permit, a long-term EU-resident permit or the right to permanent residence,
  • he or she has a steady and regular source of income in Poland, as well as a legal title to the flat occupied.

The important difference between the above-mentioned requirements consists in the fact that in the latter case the act does not define on what grounds the foreigner must have resided in Poland for 10 years. The only requirement is that the residence be legal, and the requirement that the foreigner hold a permanent residence permit, a long-term EU-resident permit or the right to permanent residence concerns the day of submitting the application and not the whole 3 or 10 years.  This means that the foreigner’s total stay in Poland counts towards the said 10 years’ period, even if he or she stayed in Poland by virtue of a visa or a temporary residence permit.

As an exception, in certain situations foreigners may submit the application earlier:

• the application can be submitted after 2 years of residence by virtue of a permanent residence permit, a long-term EU-resident permit or the right to permanent residence by the foreigners who:
  • have been married to a citizen of Poland for at least 3 years, or
  • have no citizenship;
• after 2 years of residence by virtue of a permanent residence permit obtained in connection with the refugee status awarded in Poland;
• after 2 years of residence by virtue of a permanent residence permit obtained in connection with Polish descent.

2. 2.Residence on the territory of the Republic of Poland must be continuous within the meaning of article 195 item of the act on foreigners. This means that the foreigner’s residence on the territory of the Republic of Poland constituting grounds for being accepted as a citizen of the Republic of Poland is considered continuous if none of the breaks in the said residence lasted longer than 6 months and all breaks collectively did not exceed 10 months, unless the break was caused by:

• the foreigner performing his or her professional duties or working outside the territory of the Republic of Poland under an agreement concluded with an employer whose registered seat is located on the territory of the Republic of Poland, or
• the spouse or underage child of the above-mentioned foreigner accompanying him or her, or
• special personal circumstances requiring the foreigner’s presence outside the territory of the Republic of Poland and lasting no longer than 6 months, or
• a trip outside the territory of the Republic of Poland in order to undergo internship or participate in classes required by studying at a Polish university.

3. 3.The foreigners applying for being accepted as a citizen of Poland who meet the above-mentioned requirements must also have a command of Polish confirmed by:

• the official certificate defined in article 11a of the act on Polish language dated 7 October 1999, or
• a certificate of graduating from a school in Poland, or
• a certificate of graduating from a school abroad with Polish as its language of instruction.

You can find more on this in the article entitled: Learning Polish

4. A underage foreigner residing on the territory of Poland by virtue of a permanent residence permit, a long-term EU-resident permit or the right to permanent residence can be accepted as a citizen of Poland if

• one of his or her parents is a citizen of Poland and the other parent, who does not have Polish citizenship, has agreed to having his or her child accepted as a citizen of Poland;
• at least one of his or her parents has had his or her Polish citizenship restored and the other parent, who does not have Polish citizenship, has agreed to having his or her child accepted as a citizen of Poland. 

Even if the above requirements are met, the foreigner may still be denied being accepted as a citizen of Poland if he or she is considered a threat to defence or security of the state or to public order. 

Application for being accepted as a citizen of Poland:

The application is submitted on an official form filled out in Polish. The detailed requirements to be met by the application are listed in article 33 of the act on Polish citizenship and in the Resolution of the Minister of the Interior concerning the template of the application form for accepting a foreigner as a citizen of Poland, as well as the photograph to be attached to the said application.

The application is submitted to the province governor having jurisdiction over the foreigners place of residence. The application is submitted together with the proof of paying a stamp duty in the amount of PLN 219, as well as the following appendices:

1. the application for being accepted as a citizen of Poland,
2. proof of paying the stamp duty,
3. biometric photograph,
4. original of a valid (no older than 3 months) transcript of the birth certificate, issued by a Polish registry office (“urząd stanu cywilnego” in Polish). The birth certificate should contain: names and surname, date and place of birth, name and surname of the father as well as the name and family name of the mother,
5. original of a document issued by a Polish registry office confirming the foreigner’s marital status (e.g. a valid transcript of the marriage certificate, spouse’s death certificate),
6. a certified photocopy of a valid document stating the foreigner’s identity and citizenship (foreign passport, travel document or a EU citizen ID),
7. a certified photocopy of the foreigner’s permanent residence permit, settlement permit or long-term EU-citizen permit,
8. a certified photocopy of the foreigner’s permanent residence card or document confirming the right to permanent residence (EU),
9. confirmation of being registered for permanent or temporary residence in the given province,
10. official certificate of proficiency in Polish, i.e. a certificate of graduating from a school in Poland, a certificate of graduating from a school abroad with Polish as its language of instruction or a certificate issued by the State Commission for the Certification of Proficiency in Polish as a Foreign Language,
11. statement of dates of departure from Poland and returns, as well as the places of residence abroad during the periods listed in article 30 item 1 of the act together with documents confirming continuous residence in Poland (e.g. copies of whole passports with stamps, flight tickets, business trips),
12. documents confirming professional achievements as well as political and social career, if declared in the application,
13. document confirming the foreigner’s spouse’s citizenship (passport or travel document or EU-citizen ID),
14. documents that confirm holding Polish citizenship in the past or applying for it,
15. documents confirming stable and regular sources of income in Poland, e.g. a certificate of employment with indication of salary, copy of the previous year’s PIT declaration certified by a tax office, a tax office certificate of income, a RMUA report (in the case of agreements concluded during a short period of time), a certificate from the commune authority about owning a farm with indication of its size also in conversion hectares,
16. document confirming the legal title to the flat occupied (and in the case of lending the flat for use the notarial deed pertaining to the flat lent to be presented for inspection during the proceedings).

In general, the above-mentioned documents must be presented for inspection in originals, with copies left in the case file.

Marital status records issued by a Polish registry office will be required in the procedure of accepting a foreigner as a citizen of Poland. The act of entering a foreign marital status record into Polish registries (transcription) can be performed at a Polish registry office. It takes one month

Required documents:

1. Application for registering a foreign marital status record: birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate.
2. Original of the marital status record to be registered.
3. Official translation of the marital status record done by a certified court translator or a Polish consul.
4. Proof of paying the stamp duty for issuing a full transcript after registering a foreign marital status record into Polish registry (PLN 50).
5. For inspection: the applicant’s identity document.

Note! If the foreigner got married outside the Republic of Poland, then the birth certificate should registered first, and the marriage certificate after that. An unmarried foreigner will not obtain a document confirming his or her marital status from a Polish registry office (it can only be done by a citizen).

The birth certificate transcript issued by a Polish registry office required in the proceedings of accepting a foreigner as a citizen of Poland should contain: names and surname, date and place of birth, name and surname of the father as well as the name and family name of the mother.

Depending on the data included in the document provided by the country issuing the birth certificate it may be necessary to supply also the originals of other marital status records (e.g. the parents’ marriage certificate or birth certificates) together with their official translation.

Official translation of the marital status record may done by a certified court translator or a Polish consul.
In Warsaw the documents should be submitted to the registry office at 5 Andersa street.

The registry office manager may refuse to do a transcript if:

1. in the country of issuing the document is not considered a registry document, has no official power, was not issued by a competent authority, if its authenticity is in doubt, or if it confirms an event other than birth, marriage or death;
2. the foreign document is a transcript done in a country different than where the event took place;
3. the transcript is contrary to the basic rules of legal order of the Republic of Poland.

Should a manager of a registry office for the capital city of Warsaw refuse to do a transcript, this decision can be appealed against within 14 days from its receipt to the Mazowieckie Province Governor via a registry office manager.

The procedure:

The proceedings progress in accordance with the rules laid down in the code of administrative procedure. In general, the case should be handled:

Immediately	If the documents (evidence) provided by the applicant are sufficient to issue the decision.
Within one month	If it is necessary to carry out an investigation.
Within two months	In especially complicated cases

The decision of the province governor can be appealed against to a 2nd instance authority – the Minister of the Interior.